Kat Martin takes us Into the Whnirlwind

Today we are excited to welcome NYT and USA Today best selling author Kat Martin. Personally I am in love with her books and they just keep getting better. 

Kat is giving away a copy of Into the Whirlwind. Just comment for a chance to win.

Win a Kindle Fire - Contest Link: http://www.katmartin.com/into-the-whirlwind-contest/

Hello Friends,

Next up for me is INTO THE WHIRLWIND, the second of my BOSS Inc, novels!  It’s Megan and Dirk’s wild and tumultuous story; one of personal favorites.  And ya gotta love the cover!! It hits the shelves May 31^st. I just received the review from RT BOOK REVIEWS, and thought I would share it with you along with a peek inside the cover of INTO THE WHIRLWIND.

“The second in the BOSS, Inc. series continues to excite! If you enjoy taut page-turners 

with powerful and protective alpha males, you’ve found one. The main characters have fiery chemistry and are evenly matched, making the intensity and intrigue all the more thrilling. Readers have come to expect steamy sex and plenty of suspense from Martin, and this series provides it in abundance!” —RT BOOK REVIEWS

Research Can Really Be A Bitch

(But it’s worth it)

As an author, sometimes what you think is going to be a great idea for a novel turns into a great big UGH!  That’s what happens when the research takes over your life and you have a whole lot more work to do than you had planned.  Not that it isn’t usually interesting.

INTO THE WHIRLWIND, the second book in my BOSS, INC. Trilogy, is Megan O’Brien and Dirk Reynolds’s story.  When Meg’s three-year-old son is kidnapped, the former lingerie model goes to the only man she trusts, private investigator, Dirk Reynolds, her former bodyguard, the man who was still owns her heart.  Desperate, unsure after treating Dirk badly that will help, Meg is willing to risk everything to save little Charlie.

But Dirk understands how much Meg’s little boy means to her.  Teaming up with Luke Brodie, a BOSS, Inc. bounty hunter, Dirk and Meg follow clues that led them into the murky world of gambling, high powered international crime, and terrible danger. 

The story sounded great in my head.  What I didn’t count on was the research it would entail to tell the international crime part of the novel.  As I started digging around for possible scenarios, reading information on crime in South America, I stumbled across a friend who had recently traveled in the area I was thinking of using for a portion of the book. 

Over a bottle of wine one night, I was able to convince him to tell me a little about his travels through the area, which is famous for being home to Nazi’s who fled World War II.

As you can imagine, my sensors went on high alert.  How could I weave something like that into my story?  How hard would doing the research turn out to be?

Plenty hard, I discovered, but as in other of my stories, the research is often invaluable in making the plot credible and interesting. 

I researched time frames, various landscapes, lifestyles, and a whole lot of everything else.  Along with a hero and heroine I completely fell in love with, a love story that made me tear up on occasion, INTO THE WHIRLWIND became one of my favorite novels.     

I hope you’ll look for INTO THE WHIRLWIND and that you enjoy it.  If you haven’t read INTO THE FURY, Ethan and Valentine’s story, I hope you’ll look for that, too.

Till next time, all best and happy reading, Kat 

EXCERPT from INTO THE WHIRLWIND

*****

     Megan O'Brien parked at the end of the gravel driveway and quietly got out of her compact SUV.  Through the trees, she could hear the roar of a chainsaw, hear see two-by-fours going up to form the sides of the house under construction.

     The garage was already finished, undoubtedly full of Dirk's toys, including a Harley and a custom Dodge Viper.  In the summer, he kept a boat docked on the lake below the house.

     Though two other men were hard at work, her gaze went straight to Dirk.  Hammer in hand, carpenter's belt dangling low on his waist, he was shirtless, though the January air was chill.

     Hard muscle flexed across his back and shoulders as he pounded in a nail with an ease that said how many times he had done it.  Long, sinewy muscles outlined by the soft fabric of his jeans stretched and moved as he worked on his house.

     Meg's gaze went over the familiar dragon tattoo that wound over one shoulder and inched up the side of his neck.  The colored ink seemed right with the sexy, short-cropped, horseshoe mustache that framed his mouth and curved down to his jaw, making him look like the hard, tough man he was.

     Even her terrible fear for her son couldn't block the memories of how it had felt to lie with him.  Couldn't lessen the yearning that burned through her body just at the sight of him.

     On the fashion show tour, Dirk had been her bodyguard, and though every instinct had warned her not to get involved with him, the fierce attraction between them was impossible to resist.

     Once the tour returned home, Meg had ended the affair.  Dirk Reynolds was wild and fierce while she was a single mother with a son to raise.  She had duties, responsibilities.

     She couldn't have Dirk Reynolds.   

     But she had never gotten over Dirk.

     Meg steeled herself and headed along the gravel driveway toward the house he was rebuilding after the fire that had nearly killed him five months ago.  One thing she knew, Dirk Reynolds was a hard man to kill.

     Which was the reason she had swallowed her pride and her heartache and come to him.  She needed him, trusted him as she never had another man.  Her little boy's life depended on gaining this man's help.  This man she had loved and rejected.

     She stepped out of the foliage and started toward him.  With Dirk's usual keen senses, he turned, alert that someone was there, though the buzz of the saw hid the sound of her footsteps.

     For several long moments, he just stared, watching as she approached.  He was six-two, his body lean and sculpted.  Wavy dark brown hair curled at the nape of his neck.  She forced herself to keep walking, even as his jaw locked and a fierce scowl darkened his face.

     Dirk grabbed a faded blue work shirt and shrugged it on, covering most of his amazing chest.  He didn't bother fastening the buttons, just strode toward her, blocking her view of the house.

     He stopped right in front of her.  "What are doing here, Meg?"

     "I need to talk to you.  It's...it's urgent."

     "You're trespassing.  What do you want?"

     She swallowed, fought to stay strong.  He didn't want her there.  She had known he wouldn't.  Known he thought of her only with contempt.  She wished he would hold her the way he used to when she was afraid.  "I...I want to hire you."

     The corner of his mouth edged into a ruthless half smile.  "What for?  Stud service?"

     She wanted to cry.  She wanted to beg his forgiveness.  Tell him she had never forgotten him.  That she never would. She knew it wouldn't matter to Dirk.  Not anymore.

     It didn't matter.  Nothing mattered, but saving the life of her son.

*****

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Into-Whirlwind-BOSS-Inc-Martin/dp/1420139029/

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/into-the-whirlwind-kat-martin/1122624817?ean=9781420139020

Books A Million: http://www.booksamillion.com/product/9781420139020

Indiebound: http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781420139020

Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Into-Whirlwind-BOSS-Inc-Martin-ebook/dp/B01501H2BS

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/into-the-whirlwind-kat-martin/1122624817?ean=9781420139037

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/into-the-whirlwind-1

Googleplay:https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Kat_Martin_Into_the_Whirlwind?id=coCCCgAAQBAJ

Ibooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/into-the-whirlwind/id1052616810?mt=11

New York Times bestselling author Kat Martin is a graduate of the University of California at

Santa Barbara where she majored in Anthropology and also studied History.   She is married to L.J. Martin, author of western, non-fiction, and suspense novels.

Kat has written more than sixty-five novels.  Sixteen million copies of her books are in print and she has been published in twenty foreign countries, including Japan, France, Germany, Argentina, Greece, China, Russia, and Spain.

Born in Bakersfield, California, Kat currently resides in Missoula, Montana, on a small ranch in the beautiful Sapphire mountains.

Her last 10 books have hit the prestigious New York Times bestseller list.  AGAINST THE WILD, AGAINST THE SKY, AGAINST THE TIDE and INTO THE FURY her latest release, took top ten spots. 

Visit Kat's website at www.katmartin.com

Or look for her on Facebook  at Katmartin/author.